July Fourth
by orange1996x
Summary: A perfect day but as always- in my life- nothing goes exactly to plan. Maybe a one-shot.
1. Meeting

**JULY FORTH**

Ok, so you probably all hate me and there's about a million mistakes in this story but I really wanted to get something out for all of you. I hope it doesn't suck as much as I think it does but oh well. I hope you like it and from now on I'll try to update more and every story I publish from now on will be prove read and made better each time. I'm very nervous about posting this but here goes nothing..

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A shirtless Troy Bolton was laying back on his forearms, naturally his biceps were flexing which made on lookers take two looks at the handsome twenty-one year old. Being a guy, he did take a look at the women strolling by in their skimpy bikini's but nothing caught his eye. Him and his friends had commented on a girl's legs or ass or chest area but nothing more than a simple appreciative look. His wayfarer style sunglasses sat on his nose and over his ears to cover his eyes but also to hide his eyes away from his friends as he checked out girls who his friend's might laugh it. He was looking for a potential girlfriend today. Well since his mom had given him a massive lecture of not having a nice, caring girlfriend that morning- yes she wanted to be a grandmother but not until she was 50. His dad obviously agreed with his mom telling him that he needed to think about settling down with a lovely lass in the next few years but did tell Troy to have fun and go out because he was only twenty-one. He was twenty-one and after his two year relationship with his previous girlfriend ended, a year a go and after the entire year of partying, random hook-ups and one night stands- he wanted to find someone new and someone who could possibly tame him and make him want to settle down, not force him. Troy still shook his head and couldn't believe what he was thinking at such a young age but he was a romantic at heart and he wanted that perfect girl. Not _the _perfect girl because there was no such thing but the perfect girl _for him_.

"Dude, look." Troy's afro-American best friend, Chad Danforth, slapped the back of his hand against Troy's shoulder.

The tanned and rugged man dug his feet into the sand and looked to where Chad was looking and he heard his friend speak again, "The brunette is so up your street."

Troy scrunched his nose up and shook his head, "She's got nice hair but she's too skinny and she knows she's pretty."

"Nothing wrong with a girl who knows she's hot." Zeke Baylor, another friend of Troy's commented from the other side of Chad.

Troy nodded slowly, "True but I don't want someone who's as confident as me." He laughed.

His friends just laughed and shook their heads at their friends picky girl choosing but when he goes on a night out he pretty much can have any single girl because of his looks and his body.

"Hey, Brody's bringing his friend from school she might be right for you." Zeke announced, sitting up and wrapping his arms loosely around his open legs. Brody was their friend from college.

"What's she like?" Troy asked, moving his sunglasses to rest on top of his head.

"Well Brody hasn't really said much except that their like brother and sister." Zeke shrugged, telling the two men the pointless information.

"You must of seen her around." Chad said. Zeke and Brody both went to the same college.

"A little. Not much. She's pretty hot and she seems nice."

Troy shrugged and lay down fully, soaking up the sun- putting his sunglasses back onto his face.

"Woah!" Troy exclaimed as he felt a little body run at his leg while he was playing football with the boys and a few other guys who had wanted too join.

"Troy!" The little boy shouted, looking up at his uncle with a big grin on his tan face.

"Hey bud." Troy cooed, lifting the four year old up to rest on his hip, "Where's mom and dad?" He asked, quickly shouting to his friends that he'll see them later.

"Erm.. At the ball thing… the net… with Brody." The four year old struggled, blushing slightly.

Troy smiled at his nephew, Tyler Bolton. In Troy's opinion he was _the _cutest little boy in the world. "The volleyball court on the beach?"

Tyler nodded, sucking on the inside of his cheek, "Yeah."

"Let's go then, ya' little prince." Troy teased, squeezing Tyler's side.

"Troy." He whined. Troy chuckled, kissing his hairline.

The two Bolton's walked down the beach where the sand was a little harder- perfect for a amateur volleyball game however everybody was stood with a drink chatting away. As they got closer, Troy saw his brother and his brother's wife standing talking to Brody and a brunette haired girl.

"Daddy!" Tyler shouted but still holding onto Troy's neck.

All four people turned around to look at the little boy who shouted and Dale, Troy's brother, waved back at Tyler.

"Hey bro." Dale greeted once the two reached them.

"Hey. What's up?" Troy said automatically and felt Tyler tug at his hair, "Oy." Troy scolded, teasingly and pretended to bit his little hand making him squeal and laugh.

"Dude, let me introduce you." Brody grinned and nudged Troy's shoulder with his fist, "Gab this is Troy and T this is Gabriella." Brody happily introduced the two.

Troy smiled at the petite girl with very thick black girl, "Hey."

Gabriella gave him a closed mouth smile, looking at Brody who nodded, "Hi."

Troy looked at Brody who put an arm around Gabriella with a small frown and he just mouthed later to his confused buddy. Gabriella moved around to the front of Brody, hugging both of her arms around his tank covered torso. Brody sighed out and wrapped his strong arms around her shoulders, letting his chin rest on the top of her head.

"I'll see you guys later then." Troy put Tyler down, kissed the top of his head. The rest said bye to him and he walked back to his friends, utterly confused by the girl who seemed to practically get visibly upset by him just saying hi and flashing a smile. Did his charm have that much of a bad effect on her? Apparently so.

Troy walked back up to his friends, walking up to stand next to Chad who seemed to be taking a breather from the game, "So I somehow upset Brod's friend."

Chad sighed, shaking his head, "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing. I just said hi, smiled and then she was like _clinging _to Brody. She looked scared of me." Troy admitted with a frown creasing his forehead.

"Is she like… retarded?" Chad asked, carefully, glancing around after he finished his last word.

Troy shook his head, "No. She's hella hot." He exclaimed, running his fingers through his hair, messing it up a little.

Chad's eyebrows shot up- not once today had Troy said someone was hot let alone very hot. "Fuck. How smokin' is this girl?"

"Dude." Troy groaned, "She's like this petite, exotic beauty."

The dark skinned male grinned at his friend and the blue eyed man glared at his teasing look before they heard their names being shouted. They look in that direction and saw Brody walking up to them with Gabriella in tow. Troy's eyebrow's crinkled together again as she seemed a lot more confident than before. Personality wise- she was a different person but looks wise she was exactly the same black-haired beauty.

Chad looked at Troy with his own frown, "I thought you said she was timid?" He questioned.

Troy didn't look at him, "I guess not." His eyes were fixed on the girl who was laughing at something Brody said.

"Hey bro." Chad greeted as the two stopped in front of them.

"Yo, what's up?" Brody smiled as he noticed Troy looking down at Gabriella with a small smile.

"Hi." Troy said softly at Gabriella and they started their own little conversation as Chad and Brody chatted about anything and everything.

"Hey." Gabriella grinned at him.

Troy licked his top teeth, seriously wondering if this girl had an identical twin, "You good now?" Troy asked, cringing afterwards, "I-I-I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

Gabriella giggled at the man, "It's fine. I'm sorry about before."

Troy relaxed and smiled a little, "Don't worry about it. It was cute though." He teased.

The five-foot-three girl gasped dramatically and tapped his now t-shirt covered torso with the back of her hand, "That's so not funny." She pursed her lips to stop herself from laughing.

Troy grinned and thumbed over at the beach house, "You wanna go get a drink?" He suggested

Gabriella licked her lips and squinted into the sun, "Sure." She nodded after a minutes silence.

"Awesome, let's go." Troy started walking up the beach with Gabriella at his side.

Gabriella consciously smoothed over her pale blue sundress as she walked up the beach with the gorgeous man, chatting idly with him but started to realise Troy was flirting with her a little. Gently pushing her arm when she teased him or moved his own bulky arm around her shoulders briefly and when he thought she weren't looking he would check her out, really wanting her to take off the sundress to reveal her curvy yet slim body.

Once Troy grabbed two beers out of one of the many coolers holding mainly alcoholic drinks and they took a seat on one of the lawn chairs by the pool where a few friends of Troy's hung out and his dad. Troy put up his hand and nodded at him, his dad doing the same before he got back to his conversation.

"Family?" Gabriella asked, straddling the lawn chair and taking a sip of her cold beer.

"Yeah, my dad." Troy smiled, also straddling the chair but at the other end so his back was to the pool.

"You do know that you've just given alcohol to a minor." Gabriella smirked, taking a sip of the beer while she flicked down her sunglasses to cover her eyes.

Troy's eyebrows shot up, she could see his blue eyes widen because his sunglasses were now hooked to his t-shirt due to the sun beating down on his back, "How old are you?"

"Just turned 17 in June." Gabriella tried to keep a straight face and surprising herself she did.

Troy's jaw dropped just as he went to take a gulp of his beer, "Shit. I turn 22 in October, in three months."

Gabriella nodded seriously but then burst out laughing, "You dork, I'm not really 17." She couldn't stop giggling.

Troy just grinned, shaking his head at the girl before taking a drink and answering her, "You're a tease."

Gabriella sucked her lower lip into her mouth and nodded slowly, one perfect eyebrow lifted, "Mhm." She agreed. Troy watched her lip slip from her mouth while his jaw tighten a little. "I'm 19. 20 in December."

Troy pursed his lips a little with a smile, "That's better." He playfully pushed her knee with his own.

"I like hiking." Gabriella randomly said, leaning back against the back of the lawn chair.

Troy raised a single eyebrow but went with it, "I like working out."

"What do you do?" She asked, lifting the bottle to her lips.

Troy shrugged, "Outside of the gym I run, do pull ups and things at the park, lift weights at my dorm and then in the gym I do bench press and mainly different types of weights not so much running 'cause I like doing that outside."

Due to the blackness of her sunglasses he couldn't see her eyes drifting over his torso and arms or his broad shoulders, "You go a lot then?"

Troy sticks out his lower lip and tilts his head from side to side, "More when I don't have any exams."

Gabriella nodded, "Where do you study?"

"UCLA."

"Really?"

"Yeah. What about you?"

"Cal state, LA."

"No way. That's close."

Gabriella nibbled her bottom lip and nodded, "Yeah, other side of LA right?"

"Yeah, I'm west LA and your east Los Angeles, yeah?"

"Mhm." Gabriella hummed in agreement.

Troy ran his hand through his hair and noticed his cheeks were aching a little since the smile hadn't been wiped off his face since sitting down and talking to the gorgeous woman.

"So where do you go hiking?"

Gabriella pursed her lips in thought, "The one I do most of the time is Escondido Canyon waterfall trek. I do that on weekends because it's like in Malibu but I really wanna do the famous Runyon Canon."

Troy grinned as he listened to her honey voice, "How do you get to Malibu then? Do you drive?"

Gabriella licked her lips, "Yeah or the bus. I usually go with some friends. It's fun." She said with her own smile.

"Maybe I could tag along one day." Troy knew it was a risky question but he threw it out there anyway.

"Only if I can come on one of your runs." Gabriella shot back.

"If you wear a little pair of shorts, you can come as many times as you want." Troy joked.

"Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed, laughing at his cocky and blunt comment.

Troy laughed himself, "I've been bungee jumping and sky diving."

"No way!" Gabriella exclaimed, leaning forward and slapping his bare knee.

Troy smirked and gave her an amused expression at her actions, "Yeah. I did bungee jump after my high school graduation and sky dived for my twenty-first."

Gabriella pouted her plump lips, "You are so lucky."

Troy nodded, "I know. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie. You ever done anything like that?"

Gabriella played with the end of her hair which fell over her shoulders, "On the first day of summer after high school my friend- who's like mega rich- hired this yacht and it had loads of water toys like slides, jet skis, trampoline-loads. But anyway the trampoline was near the side but on the boat and someone dared me to jump off into the ocean."

"You didn't did you?" Troy asked, wide eyed.

Gabriella bit down on her lip with a cheeky smile, "I never turn down a dare."

"You did!" Troy exclaimed.

Gabriella nodded, laughing, "It was off the first floor but I jumped and it was all going fine until I was getting back onto the boat, slipped and fell back into the water and broke my arm."

Troy's jaw dropped, "Oh my god." Troy said through his laughs.

Gabriella laughed, "It's ok, I had a plain white cast so me and my boyfriend at the time sat there colouring it in, all stripy." She grinned.

Troy started laughing a little more and shook his head at the petite girl who seemed to be up for anything, "Are you still with him?"

Gabriella gave him a confused look once their laughter died down a little.

"The boyfriend."

Gabriella shook her head quickly, "No way."

Troy looked at her for a few seconds, "What happened?"

"I told him some things about my past and he didn't want that extra baggage so we broke up and we went separate ways to college." Troy could sense she didn't want to talk anymore about it.

"So you're single?" He asked which caused a smile to erupt on Gabriella's face.

"Might be." She shrugged, "Are you?"

"Might be." He answered back.

"So tell me about your worst date." Gabriella said, eagerly.

Troy laughed, "I don't do the whole dinner date, movie thing. I find it awkward. So once I took this girl out roller-blading and we were hitting it off, holding hands, kissing like acting really coupley. When it was going dark, I took back to her place and it was getting pretty hot and heavy until this guy comes out of the door and pushes me off her, punching me in the stomach and I was just like what the _fuck _is going on and she told me that the guy was her boyfriend." Troy licked the corners of his lips.

"Oh my god." Gabriella giggled, "What a whore."

Troy burst out laughing at her bluntness to the situation, "Yeah."

"Well I'm very much single." She said seriously but then smirking, "I went on a date the other day and god, the date went perfect, just like yours and we were going back to his place. We'd made to his room and yeah," She laughed, "Just about to happened and he goes, my friend sent me on this date 'cause she wants a threesome and you seemed up for it so can I go get her? I was just like, hell no. Got dressed and ran out."

"You're serious?"

"Deadly."

"Fuck." Troy laughed, leaning over and holding his belly as he couldn't stop laughing.

"Hey, it's not that funny." Gabriella pouted, slapping his shoulder.

"Oh dude, that's hilarious." Troy wiped his eyes and took a breath, still chuckling.

Gabriella giggled a little.

The two kept on talking for some time, not realising it was around six o'clock and they had been talking for a good six hours and had gotten something to eat for lunch and dinner as well. They did nothing but talk and laugh and eat and Troy's dad looked over quite a few times and smiling at seeing his son happy and laughing, his arms moving around obviously trying to demonstrate something.

"You wanna go in the ocean?" Gabriella suggested, tilting her head a little.

Troy nodded eagerly, "Definitely."

Troy stood up, stretching before pulling his t-shirt of his head and grabbing the four empty beer bottles the two had gone through.

"D'ya want me to take your dress into Brod's room?" Troy asked.

"Sure." Gabriella stood up, taking off her sunglasses and lifting her dress off her body, handing it to Troy before picking up her sunglasses again, placing them over her eyes to tie her thick hair into a messy bun at the top of her head.

Troy's jaw dropped a little as he took in her curves, he couldn't even begin to describe how perfect her body was. Not wanting to seem like a perv he quickly walked away, placing the empty bottles on the kitchen counter and their clothes in Brody's room before meeting Gabriella at the front of the house and walking down the beach.

"Pool or sea?" Gabriella asked.

"Sea. You?"

"Same." Gabriella smiled, moving around the back of him and jumping, catching Troy off guard but he easily gripped her legs and continued walking. She could feel his back and arm muscles working and glanced over the top of his head to see his very well defined abs and licked her dry lips. Her slender arms moved from around his shoulders to around his neck and she stroked his chest.

"So you do work out."

Troy smiled and nudged his head back so the back of his head gently hit her shoulder, "Told ya." Troy ran the rest of the way down, listening to Gabriella laugh and squeal when he almost fell over. He stumbled into the sea, walking so he was up to his shoulders but his shoulders were above the water and luckily the water was very still today so he had no trouble standing up and not getting a face full of salt water.

"Bolton, I can't stand up." Gabriella panicked a little, treading water frantically.

Troy reached out and grasped her waist, holding onto her thigh to guide her legs around his waist and her arms clung to his neck, "Better?"

Gabriella calmed down, pushing her sunglasses back off of her face and onto of her head, "Yeah." She pulled herself closer to his body.

"You're so adorable when you panic." Troy smiled softly up at her.

Gabriella seemingly didn't hear him as she looked in the distance at something while playing with the hair on the back of his head.

"Oy." Troy tightened his arms around her middle a little to gain her attention.

"Hm, yeah?" Gabriella smiled, looking down at him now.

Troy shook his head, "Nothing." He smiled up at her, stroking his finger tips around her back.

"Is it weird that I feel really comfortable around you?" Gabriella asked with a slight frown.

"Not at all." Troy shook his head slowly, "I'm glad you do."

"You have cute earlobe's." Gabriella smirked, bringing one hand around to finger the soft lobe.

Troy rolled his eyes cheekily, "I knew you'd comment on my ear's. They're really weird." He brushed her hand off his face but Gabriella slapped his hand away, scolding him before going back to softly touching it again.

"Ear lobe fetish." Troy gently accused.

Gabriella stopped playing with his lobe and glared at him playfully, "I do _not _have an ear lobe fetish."

"Whatever you say, Bella." Troy winked.

Gabriella pouted and frowned, hugging his neck again but wiggling down his body a little so they were at the same height.

Troy was feeling rather bold today and he pressed his hand more firmly into the base of her back and the other stroked the outside of her thigh with his finger tips all the time his eyes were trained on her damp lips but he reluctantly pulled his eyes away and back to connect his soft blue eyes with her more startling deep brown orbs.

Gabriella hands floated up from the back of his neck to cup the sides of his strong neck, her fingers brushing his jaw which held a slight shadow of stubble.

"You have a cute nose." He randomly announced after a minute or two of silence, just taking in each other's facial features. "It looks soft and kissable." He grinned like a two year old who just got a new toy, a boyish smile. Knowing his words were out there because this was after all the first time they have met.

"Nose fetish." Gabriella mocked him of his previous fetish accusation.

"Nah. I'm more of a shoulder fetish kinda guy but I like hands and then the normal things like legs and ass." Troy smirked, his hands moving to around her waist, lacing his fingers together behind her back.

"Nice and blunt." Gabriella teased.

"As always." Troy shot back.

"What do you think of my hands and shoulders then?" She questioned, smiling as his gaze fell to her shoulders and she shook them a little earning a chuckle from the older, handsome man.

"You're shoulders are tan, smooth and pretty perfect. Now pass me your hands." He un laced his hands and held it out, palm up so she could put her hand in his. Gabriella let go of his neck and gripped tighter with the other arm, hooking it around to keep a good grip as he held her hand.

He ran his fingers over hers, tickling her a little but she didn't laugh because of his serious expression, his lower lips caught between his white, straight teeth.

"Their just as pretty as you." He smiled widely, lacing their fingers together and playing with her fingers a little but not much so he doesn't dislodge their interlocked hands. Feeling her little palm in his hand made him smile a little more- it was so soft and small and his was so big and rough. It was perfect for him.

Gabriella let off a small laugh, "You're weird, bear."

"Bear?" He questioned

"Yeah. You know UCLA Bruins Bear?" Gabriella said, as if he should of figured it out straight away.

"Oh, get ya." Troy winked before continuing, "Come on, this waters getting cold." He started to carry her our until she could touch the floor where he moved his hands under her butt to put her down and the ocean's waters got a little rougher, slamming up at the back of Troy's thighs and protecting Gabriella so she wouldn't fall over and get pulled under.

Troy moved his hands away from her body momentarily so he could raise his hands and cup her jaw line, tilting her head back a little as he was towering over her and his amazingly sculptured everything was pressed to her soft body.

Troy lowered his head and the movement got as far as their noses brushing before Gabriella quickly levelled her head so his lips were now inline with her forehead and no longer her lips. Troy internally groaned which surprised to find out how much he actually wanted to kiss the petite and now blushing girl. His rough hands still delicately cradled her jaw which Gabriella found herself liking the difference, she hadn't looked up since she had pulled away from the forthcoming kiss but Troy hadn't move, just pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I'm sorry." Troy mumbled somewhat dejectedly, moving his hands away from her face but noticed how her hands hadn't moved from the waistband of his black board shorts, the tips of her small hands grazing his behind.

"Don't be. I do want too just not yet." Gabriella told him, looking up for the first time in a couple of minutes, their eyes quickly connecting.

Troy shrugged, his hands falling to his sides but Gabriella seemed unfazed and kept her hands around him, "If you want to see me after today then tell me after the fireworks tonight or before you go home."

Seeing that Troy was a little thrown back at her obvious rejection and a little confused because of their constant flirting all day and how well they had gotten along.

"What makes you think I want to stay with you until it goes dark?" Gabriella asked, with a serious face and an eyebrow raised.

Troy rubbed the back of his neck, frowning a little as if thinking how quickly things changed after he tried to kiss her. He didn't reply quick enough so Gabriella continued.

"You're not used to rejection, are you?" Gabriella stated more than questioned.

"No." Troy said, being honest.

Gabriella smiled at him, her lips pressed together though, "I want to kiss you before the day is over but I want to make sure that it's not going to be awkward after so I want to spend the rest of the evening with you."

This seemed to slow process in Troy's mind before he opened his mouth to speak, "So you do want to kiss me but you don't?" He questioned, confused.

Gabriella laughed, "Exactly."

Troy smiled as she burst out laughing and he wrapped his arms around her neck again, pulling her closer in a hug. Her cheek pressed against his warm, damp chest while his rest on the top of her head.

"Better now, Bolton?"

"Shush you." Troy nudged the tip of his nose against her head, "We were having a good day so I thought then was a good moment."

"Were?" Gabriella pulled her head back to look up at him.

Troy rolled his eyes, good naturedly, "We _are _having a good day." He corrected.

"Better." Gabriella concluded, wiggling out of his arms and running out of the sea and onto dry land.

Troy smiled at her back and shook his head thinking that he must look like an idea just grinning and standing by himself in the sea so he ran to catch up with the girl he had spent the day with and wrapped his arms around her waist- his palms flat against her stomach, kissing her bare shoulder before straightening up and moving in front of her, still walking while reaching for her hands, "Was that ok to do?" Troy teased.

"Well I know you have a shoulder fetish so I'll let you off." Gabriella joked, raising their hands up so they were held up either side of their bodies, their hands twisted together in a odd fashion.

"How about we get my friends and yours then meet in the pool for a rinse off?" Troy suggested, reaching with his index finger toward to shoulder to brush off some drying white salt off her tan skin.

"Sure, I'll meet you there in a minute." Gabriella said swiftly before walking off, in search for her friends.

Troy sucked in his lower lip, biting into it softly as he watched her behind jiggle a little as she ran. Although he did have a slight grope of her butt, he noted that it was pretty firm but because of the size of it, it had a slight bounce. This caused a small groan to erupt from his lips just thinking of what that perky, large behind could do.

Realising that he must look like a complete idiot staring a girl who seemed to get further and further away with a goofy grin on his friends- he quickly shook his head and walked off to the beach house where he could see Chad (obviously because of his afro) sitting on the steps leading down to the sand.

"Hey guys." Troy greeted, smiling and slapping hands with all of guys before giving the girls a side hug and then sitting down on the sand, next to Lucy O'Sheer- his and Chad's friend from college. Brody and Zeke went to the same college- California State University, Los Angeles.

"Hey man, how's it going with Gabriella?" Chad smirked in amusement.

"Yeah, we saw you two getting pretty close in the water." Lucy teased, a little with a smile on her face.

Troy rubbed the back of his neck briefly, "Yeah, she's so cool and _so _hot."

"We do have eyes buddy." Zeke joked, leaning back on his elbows on the sand.

"Are you gonna see her again after today?" Lucy asked, more sensibly now.

Troy looked over at her, in some way she looked a little like his sisters back home in Ohio where they lived with his younger brother and his parents. She had light brown hair which was cut to rest of her shoulders and blue eyes.

"I hope so. We're near-ish each other like about half an hour." Troy said, seeing Chad glance over the top of his head but thought nothing of it.

"But dude, do you have time for a girlfriend?" Chad asked, genuinely happy for his friend that he was having a good day with a girl he knew that Troy was starting to like.

"What d'ya mean?" Troy questioned.

"Like between classes, studying, exams, homework, friends, basketball, training. Do you have time to travel at least half an hour to see a girl who also has to do all them things minus basketball?" Chad asked, maturely.

"Whoa, dude. I've known this girl not even twenty-four hours. Yeah, I do wanna see her again but I'm just going to see how today goes and if she wants to as well then we'll hang out. I'm gonna live in the moment to worry about the future. If it doesn't happen, it didn't for a reason." Troy shook his head.

Lucy touched his shoulder and awed, "If you weren't like a brother to me and I didn't have a boyfriend then I would so be all over you. That girl is one lucky lady."

"Guys!" Troy exclaimed, "You're acting like we've been together for years. I've known her for about seven hours, that's it."

"Seems longer to me." A voice behind him said.

Troy turned his head around and smiled, "I know." He whispered.

"Let's go in the pool!" Brody shouted and everyone jumped up.

Gabriella grabbed Troy's forearm before he could follow everyone and he turned to look at her, eyebrows knitting in confusion, "_This_ is crazy." Gabriella laughed, pointing finger between the two of them.

Troy smiled big, "I know."

Before anymore could be said she ran off again and jumped on Brody's back, leaving him again but this time he kept walking to catch up with Chad and Zeke.

"_Hey, I just met you and this is crazy but here's my number so call me maybe." _Troy sang while leaning against the edge of the huge hot tub, sitting in the mass of bubbly water waiting for the fireworks to start. The hot tub sat on the deck of the beach house so it over looked the beach. The beach curved back into a 'U' so the fireworks were being set off a few houses down and everyone there could see them perfectly.

Gabriella raised her eyebrows a little in amusement and looked over at the man she was sitting next to.

"Gab, he wants your number." Chad said from the other side of Troy.

"Oh I know. He has to work for it." Gabriella teased, patting Troy's thigh under the water although Chad couldn't see it, Troy could feel it.

"What time is it?" Troy asked, sliding down further into the hot tub so his shoulders were just above the water.

"About ten. The fireworks should start soon." Chad told him.

Gabriella turned to her left and started up a conversation with Lucy who she found she had a lot in common with. The hot tub was filled with ten people age ranging from 19 to 22. There was- Troy, Gabriella, Lucy, Liam Young (Lucy's boyfriend), Tyler Jackson, Brody, Poppy Hernandez (Gabriella's best friend), Alicia Jackson (Lucy's best friend and Tyler's twin sister), Zeke and Chad. All in that order in the hot tub.

"Your boy is hot." Gabriella whispered to Lucy, "Well done, girl." She giggled.

Lucy laughed, "I know right." She reached out for Liam's arm and wrapped her arms around it, earning a kiss to the top of her head before he carried on talking to Tyler, Brody and Poppy.

"Aw." Gabriella pouted cutely and Lucy laughed at how much she could tell Gabriella wanted ti be in a relationship, "How long have you been together for?"

"A little over a year." Lucy answered, "We were both in our class and he asked me out on a date, never of spoken to me before and we were making out by the night of the night."

"Really?" Gabriella asked and then lowered her voice once Lucy nodded with a light blush, "I wouldn't let Troy kiss me earlier."

Lucy let her jaw drop, "Girl, he's so into you!" She nudged her arm.

"He is?" Gabriella questioned, "I've only met him today."

"Did you not here my story?" Lucy asked in a 'duh' tone, "When you're into someone you just do it, live in the moment and worry about later, later."

Gabriella smiled at how much Lucy sounded like Troy, "I guess."

"So, you are into him right? Not just leading him on for a bit of fun." Lucy said, kind of seriously.

Gabriella could tell that she was a little protective of Troy but that made her smile knowing he was surrounded by good, genuine people who cared about him, "Of course I'm into him. I wouldn't lead him on."

"That's good to hear." Lucy smiled and wrapped her arm around Gabriella's shoulders in a hug and Gabriella did the same. Lucy tapped Troy's shoulder which grabbed Chad's and Zeke's attention as well and held up a thumb mouthing 'she's a good one' before pulling back and hearing Chad and Zeke teasing but cheering for him.

Lucy turned back to her boyfriend who had planted a kiss on the side of her neck obviously wanting her attention now and Gabriella turned back to Troy, Chad and Zeke.

"You okay?" Troy asked in a soft voice moving his bulky arm to lay on the top of the tub behind her shoulders.

"Yeah." Gabriella nodded through her words, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his jaw briefly before pulling back to look over his face.

It was the first time she'd _really _looked at him. From the shadow of stubble across his jaw, cheeks and chin to his thin yet smooth lips, his ski slope nose which ended to a soft, rounded point to the beautiful yet subtle blue eyes which gave his rugged look a softer edge to his thick, messy and salt water styled hair and the cute ears she earlier teased him about to his tan skin- Troy Bolton was truly gorgeous. His body and his personality added to the mix and so far Gabriella thought he was pretty amazing but there had to be a fault somewhere.

"Done studying me?" Troy smirked.

"Just about." Gabriella joked.

Troy turned his body more to her, "Everyone is acting like we're dating. It's really annoying." He said, moving his fingertips over the expanse of her shoulder blades once.

"I know but we don't help things." Gabriella said back.

Troy frowned a little, "What do you mean?"

Gabriella gave him an 'are you joking?' look, "Troy, you were this," She held her thumb and index finger close together, "close to kissing me, we've been with each other all day and you've been holding my hand, stroking my back, we've been flirting, talking about if we're going to see each other again."

"Like you said before, it's crazy but I like it." Troy grinned.

Gabriella bit the inside of her cheek and nodded, silently agreeing with him before hearing a bang and her eyes immediately shot to the exploding fireworks. She loved fireworks. She tilted her head to lay it gently on Troy's broad shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, resting his hand on her bicep.

"You gotta have a fault." Troy mumbled into the top of her head.

"Huh?" Gabriella asked, lifting her head but not taking her eyes off the fireworks.

"You're worrying me because today has been really good and I'm with a great girl who seems to have no faults where I have many." Troy explained in a hushed voice.

Gabriella glanced at him, "I do, I have lots. You'll find out if you stick around, trust me. I've sent men running for the hills after I've told them." She said, still looking up at the fireworks.

"I'm intrigued. You'll find out mine very soon."

"Will I?"

"Yeah. I like turn into goo if I'm in love and I'd do anything for my girlfriend, I do have my limits but I'm a little bit of a push over if I means I make her happy. I've been known as a player this past year and a male whore. I am a typical guy and the girl will have to tell me straight because I- like all guys- can't read minds. Something girls think we can all do." Troy explained in a ramble.

Gabriella smiled at his ramble, "Well I like all girls will still think you can read minds no matter how many times you tell us you can't."

Troy laughed, looking back up at the fireworks and Gabriella did the same. During the next twenty minutes continuous fireworks were set off- all different kinds, noises and colours. Gabriella blinked at the loud ones but couldn't take her eyes off them. Fireworks were something that held her attention but she didn't know why- she just loved them. When the clock hit half past eleven that night, the ten of them were now all cuddled up on the beach with a fire going in the middle of them all. Everybody else had gone home but the ten decided to stay a little longer.

"No, you're drunk. I'm not kissing you tonight." Gabriella laughed as Troy pressed one more kiss to her neck before pulling away.

"I'm not drunk, I'm just a little tipsy." Troy corrected.

Gabriella just laughed again and her right hand stroked his abs softly underneath his plain t-shirt, "I'm not kissing you today."

"You said you wanted too." Troy whined.

"But that was before you got drunk." Gabriella was still laughing at the man who could barely keep his head up straight due to his tiredness and drunkenness.

"Ok, ok." Troy mumbled.

"Gabriella, my wonderful friend." Chad slurred as he and Brody plopped himself down, obviously a lot more drunk than Troy. Troy would remember everything tomorrow morning but she didn't think Chad and Brody would.

"Hey guys." Gabriella smiled.

Chad patted Gabriella's knee, "You know, Troy here is such a good dude to his girlfriends. His ex said him she had, had a miscarriage but she actually aborted it and he still stuck by her but then a few months after that, they split. He's a push over but he has a good heart." Chad rambled.

Gabriella looked up at Troy who's face had dropped and he seemed to sober up rather quickly, "Troy." She said to gain his attention.

"Just ignore Chad, he doesn't know what he's saying. He's talking shit. He's drunk." Troy said, forcing out a laugh.

"Hey, its ok." Gabriella smoothed her hand over his abs again, kissing his cheek.

"Please, just drop it." Troy said, quietly while Chad didn't seem to notice his slip up and carried on his conversation with Brody, "Come on, let's get you home." He stood up and started to walk towards the beach house. He could hear Gabriella saying goodbye to everyone before running after him.

"Troy, why are you running away?" She asked.

"Just please, drop it. Where's your car?" Troy asked, walking faster away.

Gabriella sighed and thought it was best she should go and just leave him alone for a while. She walked to where her car was and leant against the old-style mustang.

"I'll see you around." Troy said, turning around.

"Troy, please come here." Gabriella shouted out. She watch as he paused, turned around on the spot before walking back to her.

"What?" He said, harshly.

Gabriella winced a little, "I haven't done anything to you so cut it out, jerk." She snapped back.

This seem to register in Troy's mind and he reached out for her, cupping her cheeks like earlier in the day, "I'm sorry. Why me and my ex broke up is a sensitive subject." He smiled a little when her felt her rub his sides comfortingly, "I don't wanna tell you it yet. I want to enjoy my time with you not be bogged down with heavy, depressing stories."

Gabriella retracted her hands and just stood there, gazing up with a kind of sadness in her eyes, "I have too many of them kinds of stories. I don't want to make the same mistake again and tell my story to, for them to run away. Bye Troy." She gave him half a smile and climbed into her car.

Troy grabbed the car door and leaned down a little, "I meant today. I wanted today to be light and free. I wanted to end the night kissing you not you running away from me."

"You knew what you meant and so do I. It's fine, really. See you around… maybe." Gabriella shrugged and shut her car door and drove off.

Troy groaned and tugged on his hair, "Why the fuck do I screw everything up." Troy grumbled and then felt two hands on his shoulders, he turned to face Lucy.

"I came out here when I heard shouting. Is everything ok?" Lucy asked.

"No. I just fucked up a perfect day. I've known the girl a day and she's already driving me crazy in every way possible. I don't even have her number. For fuck sake, why does this always happen. I should just carry on sleeping around, I'm shit at dating and meeting girls. I get in too deep, too quick." Troy rambled, angrily.

"You can't let one failed relationship get you down- your young, it's gonna be ok. If things don't work out with Gabriella then it's not meant to be. You'll find someone Troy." Lucy reasoned.

"She was like perfect. Not perfect but for me she was. I know she has so many things she's not telling me. I didn't want her to tell me today because I want too keep meeting up with her and learning things about her but my fucked up way with words just flushed that down the toilet." Troy got louder and louder with every word.

Lucy looked at the man with sympathy- he had been through so much in just twenty-two years, he deserved a break and she could tell how happy Gabriella had made him today but something just had to go wrong- life got in the way. Already and so early, Troy and Gabriella had to decide if they want to sweep away this day or purse it and let the other in just little by little. Lucy couldn't help but think they had rushed today- immediately acting like a couple and she could tell Troy was thinking the same. If he just slowed it down a little maybe this would never of happened and he would of gotten his goodnight kiss for an amazing girl. He concluded that Gabriella had seen his first fault- his 'amazing' way with words.


	2. Lunch

**Chapter 2**

Troy sat, slouched on his parents deep red leather couch which was mixed with other fabric couches or arm chairs in the room. Although it wasn't the same couch as three years ago, it was still in the same place, replacing the old couch. It was in the same place where Troy had previously cuddled up to his now ex-girlfriend, kissed her, watched movies with her, wiped away her tears, laughed with her and had deep conversations and their future. It felt strange for Troy to be sitting there, remembering the things that had happened in this exact spot. It was eerie because even though Troy hadn't spoke to Olivia for a year, little things still reminded him of her. He figured it was going to be that way until he had a new girlfriend and falling in love stupidly. Again, setting up his heart for disappointed… or so he thought.

"_I'm glad it's summer now." An eighteen year old Troy Bolton whispered as he lay horizontally on the couch at his house, slightly squashing his lanky girlfriend against the back of the couch._

"_Me too. You in board shorts for the next couple of months." Olivia smiled, tracing his hip with her finger._

_Troy grinned at her, totally in love with the girl he had been with for six months. He leant down to kiss her but she pulled back and a frown creased his forehead. _

"_I don't want to ruin my make up if we see your parents." Olivia said, touching her bottom lip lightly to see if her lip gloss was still on. _

_Troy's thick eyebrows shot up, "You won't kiss your boyfriend because you want your make-up to be perfect for my parents?" He questioned._

"_Exactly." Olivia giggled, slapping his chest gently._

"_One kiss." Troy grumbled, lowering his head to nuzzle at her neck, pressing kisses to it._

"_Troy." Olivia laughed, gripping onto his shoulders and wrapping her left leg over his hip._

_Troy bit down on his own bottom lip before kissing her neck again and rubbing his hand over her bare thigh. "C'mon baby." He cooed, kissing her jaw and flicking the tip of it on the underside of her jaw. _

"_Just one, ok?" The blonde mumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck, very much of the dominant character of the relationship though Troy would never admit this. His friends saw that he was a push over but Troy was happy and so was Olivia. _

"_Mhm." Troy nodded, wrapping his arm around her waist, their stomach's pressing together as he connected their lips, feeling his slip a little because of the amount of lip gloss his girlfriend wore._

_The kiss went from soft and sweet and innocent to hot and wet and passionate in the matter of seconds, their already interlocked hips started to rub against each other and Troy moved them off the couch, standing up and carrying her quickly upstairs, down the hall and into his room. All the while, Olivia's lips attached to his strong neck while she giggled._

Troy was broken from reliving his memories of his self-absorbed ex. Looking back now, all she cared about was being in any relationship, sex, her image and her reputation. Never Troy. Never their unborn child which she aborted. Never. Not once.

"Yo, Troy. You just got killed, man." Dylan, Troy's younger brother said. Him being the one who broken Troy from his little day dream.

"Sorry. I spaced out." Troy shook his head, scratching his bare chest.

Dylan yawned and nodded, "So I heard you had a good day yesterday?" The Nineteen year old asked.

Troy closed his eyes and leant his head backwards, it roughly hit the top of the couch, "Yeah. Until Chad got smashed, I got pissed and ended up saying the wrong thing… again." He briefly spilled to his younger brother.

"What happened?" Dylan frowned.

The tip of Troy's tongue darted out to lick his lips, "I met this really great girl." He paused, opening his eyes, "Same age as you." He added as an after thought and Dylan's eyebrows shot up with a grin on his face. "Don't even think about it." Troy glared, reading his brother like a book.

"Sorry." The younger Bolton laughed, "Continue." He waved his hand around in a gesture for him to carry on his story.

"Anyway, at first she was, like, scared of me but we got talking. I spent the whole day with her, nearly kissed her, watched fireworks, on the beach, pool, outdoor Jacuzzi. She told me she wanted to kiss me at the end of the night. She's amazing but Chad started hinting at my relationship with Olivia and I said the wrong things, as always. She drove off." Troy explained in a little more detail.

Dylan down turned his lips, "Sounds like a lot happened in a day."

Troy nodded slowly, "Yeah. I think I went too fast with her though. Maybe if I slowed down with her, that wouldn't of happened." Troy shrugged.

"You got her number?" Dylan asked.

Troy shook his head.

"What the fuck, man. You're an idiot." Dylan exclaimed, throwing a pillow at his half naked brother.

"I know! I know!" Troy shouted, "I just figured I'd ask at the end of the night but…"

His brother stared at him, silently analysing Troy, "You like her."

Troy bit the inside of his cheek, nervously and shook his head, "I don't. How can you like someone in a day? And please don't start because I've already got Chad, Zeke and the rest of the guys acting like me and her have been together for years." Troy sighed and Dylan just nodded, quietly, "Anyway, I'm happy single. I can fuck around, no strings attached, no feelings, no hurt, no heartbreak, no pain in the ass girlfriend." Troy was staring at the wall at the TV at this point, not really looking just staring.

"Dude, you can't base every relationship off your one with Olivia. Man, that was messed up. She wasn't nice to you, you gave 100% in that relationship, any person could see that. She gave you nothing, she didn't care like she said she did. She wouldn't of done what she did if she really cared." Dylan told his brother harshly but in a soft voice.

Troy swallowed thickly, "I loved her." It was as simple as that. He fell in love with a girl, Olivia fell in love with sex, lies and cheating.

"I know. I don't wanna see you go through that again." Dylan smiled a little.

The blue eyed male looked over at his brother, "This is crazy." He let out a small laugh. "How can such a tiny, amazing girl effect me like this, this fast."

Dylan shrugged, "She must be pretty amazing. You've pushed most girls away who show any interest in you, other than sex."

Troy chuckled, "Yeah, I've been pretty much a man whore this past year."

"Do you still have feelings for her?" Dylan asked after a minute of silence.

Troy licked his top row of teeth, "Liv?… No. Not anymore."

"The girl?"

Troy frowned and shrugged, "I don't know, a little maybe. I've fucked up anyway."

Dylan frowned, looking exactly like his brother, "Who says?"

"Me."

"That girl might think differently." Dylan suggested.

Troy screwed up his face more, "I don't think so. She seemed pretty pissed at me."

"Dude, talk to her. Don't leave it any longer. She'll be even more annoyed. You know how girls and time and calls are." Dylan rolled his eyes with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

Troy laughed at his little brother, "Your right. I don't know where she is though." He licked his lips again, in thought. Troy had started noticing recently that he licks his lips a lot when he's thinking, "She's close friends with Brody." Troy mumbled quietly.

"Then call him, idiot!" Dylan shouted.

Troy immediately dug his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it and scrolled down his contacts to find Brody and he straight away tapped his name, then call and held the phone up to his ear.

"Yello." Brody's voice said, happily through the phone.

"Hey man." Troy greeted, putting him straight on speaker.

"Yo, what's up Troy?" Brody asked.

Troy pressed his lips together, "I was wondering if I could get Gabriella's number." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Brody bit down on his bottom lip and looked to where Gabriella was resting on the couch. He feet were in Chad's lap while she picked at a cushion while looking pretty down and obviously in deep thought.

"Dude, I don't know." Brody finally answered, "Troy, I know it was just a day fling but I think she started to like you. Your one of very few guys who didn't run away when she was, like, clinging to me." Brody explained and watched Gabriella looking at him as he said Troy's name.

"I think I started to like her too. She's amazing and something in me just wants to get to know her. Please, Brod." Troy didn't want to beg.

Brody swallowed, "I don't know. Why can't you just leave it as it is? You two had a good day. Well except the end but still…" He trailed off as he saw Gabriella shoot daggers at him through her dark eyes. Brody silently put his friend on loud speaker.

"Exactly!" Troy exclaimed, "We had an amazing day, even though she did reject me when I went in for the kiss." Troy smiled but continued, "I loved that. Dylan's made me realise that I can't just keep fucking about for the rest of my life. Not every girl is like Olivia. Even if nothing happens between me and Gabriella at least I can say I gave it a go." Troy finished.

Brody looked over at Gabriella who had a smile on her face, just looking at Brody's phone, "Bolton, don't be mad but Gabriella's here and she heard every word of that."

Troy grinned and he was pretty sure Dylan could hear it through the phone, "I'm not mad."

"Boys, I'm home!" Troys and Dylans mother announced, walking into the family room where they were and the two instantly shh'd her.

"Can you put her on?" Troy asked.

"Sure." There was some rustling before a sweet, feminine voice filtered through the phone.

"Troy, you there?" Gabriella questioned through the phone.

A huge grin erupted on Troy's face and he took her off speaker, holding the phone to his ear, "Yeah, I'm here. Hey gorgeous." He answered huskily, walking out of the room leaving his little brother grinning just like his two older brothers and his mom with her mouth open and her eyes wide.

"Dylan Bolton, you are going to tell me everything!" Lucille Bolton exclaimed with a big smile on her face.

"Troy is officially trying to get to know a girl. Spent all day with her yesterday. They hit off apparently, it sounds like he's into her."

Lucille squealed happily, "Aw, my little boy."

"He's just a bit scared that he's gonna screw up." Dylan carried on, ignoring his mom.

"Whenever I saw him with Olivia- he was an utter gentlemen and he seemed like a good boyfriend to her." Lucille said, sitting down on the arm of the chair Dylan was sat on.

"I know but you know what he's like." Dylan shrugged.

"Don't we all." Lucille smiled, ruffling Dylan's hair. "Food?"

Dylan nodded, "Please."

"I'll make us some lunch now." Lucille stood up and carried her bag into the kitchen with her. "Do you know if your brother is going to be here?" She shouted.

Dylan looked up as Troy walked back into the family room with a smile, "Dunno." He shouted back.

"Yeah, ok. I'll set off now, your at Brod's right?… Cool, see you soon, bye." He hung up the room and did a little happy dance in the middle of the room.

Troy shook his butt around, "I'm going on a lunch date with Gabriella." He sung.

Dylan laughed at his brother, "You better go then." Noticing that he had changed into a pair of board shorts and a polo shirt.,

"Your right. Laters." Troy continued his happy dance into the kitchen, kissing his mom's cheek with a smile, "I have a lunch date with the most amazing, gorgeous girl ever." He told her before running out of the house in his converse.

"Aw, he's so happy." Lucille cooed to no one in particular.

"Mom, where's dad?" Dylan asked, changing the xbox to one player.

Lucille clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "He's just at the gym, sweetheart."

"'Kay." Dylan called back, settling back down to continue his game but this time by himself.

* * *

"I'm sorry about last night." Troy whispered as they sat across from one another in a bottom next to the window in Troy's favourite smoothie place.

Gabriella looked beautiful. Her hair was up in a messy bun, keeping her neck and face slightly cooler now her thick mane was out of the way. She wore a loose cami which had all different colour linked triangles and a pair of high waisted, light wash shorts and a pair of dainty sandals.

"It's fine. I over-reacted." Gabriella smiled, taking in Troy's own appearance- quickly coming to the conclusion he looked absolutely gorgeous.

Troy shook his head, "I understand your point now. My little brother had to explain it to me a little but I get it. I wanna see where this goes." Troy whispered the last sentence- wondering if it was too early to say that.

Gabriella smiled, her teeth shining through as she brushed her fingers against his hand which fiddled with a napkin, "Me too. I say we keep going on a few dates, see where we end up."

Troy bit down on his bottom lip to stop the enormous smile forming across his face, "Sounds good. Take it slow."

Gabriella nodded, "I think we rushed yesterday." Taking back her hand to clutch her smoothie and take a sip.

"I said the exact same thing this morning. I had a good time though." Troy added huskily.

Gabriella took a deep breath, "It was amazing. Bet you're glad that I rejected your kiss now." She winked.

Troy again bit into his bottom lip with a smile, "Hmm. Looking back it's probably a good thing you pulled back but I did really wanna kiss you."

"I told you. I wanted to kiss you but then everything happened…" Gabriella trailed off with a shrug.

Troy sighed, "I know. You're so adorable." He murmured.

Gabriella grinned, "You're not getting a kiss yet, buddy."

He stuck out his tongue with a laugh, "I wasn't saying it for that. I just thought you looked cute when you did that."

Gabriella giggled a little, "What?"

"You, like, tilted your head and pressed your lips together." Troy explained, scrunching up his nose quickly.

The brunette copied him and grinned at the mock-glare he sent her, "So you talked to your brother about me?"

Troy poked his tongue into the side of his cheek, "Yeah. Being completely honest, I wouldn't be here talking to you if it weren't for him. I really wanted to talk to you and he gave me a boost." Troy smiled a little.

She smirked, "And you call yourself a man."

"Yeah." Troy said through a laugh before clearing his throat, "All man, princess."

Gabriella bit down on her lower lip, watching his face turn serious and insanely sexy before grinning and letting out a laugh, "Full of jokes today, aren't you Bolton?"

"It's not a joke, Montez." Troy shot back, sipping his smoothie which he had forgotten about for a while.

Gabriella took a sip of her own before licking her lips, "Just sarcasm then."

Troy gave her a playful glare making her smile, "We're a good influence of society. You're all women and I'm all man."

"We're a good influence?" Gabriella asked with an eyebrow raised, "Yesterday you wanted to sleep with me. Don't lie."

Troy pursed his lips in thought, "Honestly… I just wanted a kiss."

"So you don't think I'm attractive?" Gabriella teased but Troy's expression suddenly turned panicked and his choked a little from his drink.

Troy opened his mouth, his tongue trying to produce some words but nothing came out so he shut it again before speaking, "Are you serious? You are so beautiful and your body is incredible."

Gabriella felt a slight hotness cover her cheeks, "Troy," She groaned, leaning her head forward to rest on her arms.

Troy let out a loud laugh, reaching over to stroke a hand over the back of her head and leaning over to press a soft kiss to it, "Geez, I never saw you blush when I complimented you yesterday."

Gabriella looked up briefly, even redder than before, "I hate you." She glared and lay her head back down.

Troy kept grinning, "Like hell you do."

Gabriella looked up again but this time with a smile running across her face, "Hmm."

Troy got up from his side of the booth and stood up earning a frown from Gabriella but she smiled and shuffled along the red cushion of the booth as he sat next to her.

"What was your last girlfriend like?" Gabriella asked after a couple of minutes comfortable silence. Gabriella had rearranged herself so her legs calves lay over Troy's lap and her back was pressed against the warm glass.

Troy knew it must of took a lot of confidence to ask that sensitive question which only last night made him retreat and curl up away from her- not literally… obviously.

"I loved her." Troy whispered.

"It must have been bad for you too basically throw me out last night." Gabriella commented, not effected with his quiet admission.

Troy shrugged, "I don't know. At the time, from my point of view at was amazing- she was beautiful but she was such high maintenance but everybody has there flaws…"

Gabriella cut in, "And yours is your way with words." She smirked.

"Yeah." Troy grinned, "Anyway, we just didn't work out. I loved her, yeah but I loved the idea of being in a loving relationship more. She loved her image, reputation and the physical side to it all."

"So you were popular then back in high school?" Gabriella asked.

Troy's jaw dropped immediately, "That's all you got from my confession?" He gave out a small laugh.

Gabriella shrugged her slim shoulders, sipping the last of her smoothie, "Just answer."

Troy copied her actions and brought his hands back to rest on her smooth shins, "I guess. I was captain of the basketball team and I played golf."

"So you had all the cheerleaders?" Gabriella laughed.

Troy licked the corner of his lips, "My ex-girlfriend was a cheerleader. A typical cheerleader- lanky, tall, flexible and blonde."

Gabriella screwed her nose up a little, "I used to be a cheerleader and I'm nothing like that."

"You did?" Troy asked, shocked.

"Mhm." She confirmed.

"You're what.. Five, five? Brunette, curvy as hell, screwed her nose up at the mention of a cheerleader. Nothing like my last girlfriend." Troy commented.

Gabriella giggled a little, kicking her heel into his leg a little, "We're meeting up for the second time, I wouldn't go comparing me to your ex." She warned with a point of her finger.

"Sorry." Troy said, a little sheepishly.

"I'm five foot three, and yes to the rest, your right. I loved being a cheerleader at the time, having all the hot guys looking at you, taking you and having a gorgeous boyfriend but when I got to college I realised they just wanted sex." Gabriella shrugged.

"So how many boyfriends have you had?" Troy asked, intrigued by her wording.

Gabriella smirked, "Is that all you got from my confession?" She mocked earning a tap on her leg and a smile, "I had one boyfriend when I was seventeen for six months but it didn't work out 'cause we both just wanted to go to parties and do what we want so I've had more friends with benefits than boyfriends." She admitted, shrugging.

"Really?" Troy asked, again surprised by her.

"Yeah. I didn't want a boyfriend, I wanted to have fun. I'm not having a boyfriend until I'm sure I'm completely in love." Gabriella shrugged… again.

Troy gave her a small smile, "Being in love is amazing but I can only imagine what it must be like if the person has the same feelings." He told her with a dreamy smile, "I like being in a relationship."

"Why's that?" Gabriella asked, leaning forward a little to itch the back of her thigh.

Troy's gaze went there as well before looking back at her face, "I like all the little things. Sending them texts and knowing your not annoying them, get to kiss and hug them whenever, cuddling up in bed just because you can."

Gabriella smiled, "Aw, Troyboy- you're adorable." She teased leaning a little more forward to tug his cheek affectionately.

Troy chuckled and softly slapped her hand away, pushing at her feet and standing up her offered her his hand.

"Where are we going?" The tiny nineteen year old asked, not getting up yet.

"For a walk." Troy said simply.

Gabriella rolled her eyes and stood up, holding onto his hand as they walked out of the shop. Gabriella was only slightly aware of her hand tucked in his much larger one, their fingers linked together.

"So what was your ex like?" Troy returned the question from earlier.

Gabriella licked her lips and shrugged, "Alright. Nothing special."

"That's it?"

She sighed, "He was a football player. He was a Senior and I was Junior. He was gorgeous. First the first four months we were like a proper couple all cutesy and everything but it fizzled out quickly and we ended it- mutual."

Troy looked at her, "You've not had a relationship since?"

"Nope. I've never been like this," She held up their intertwined fingers "With anyone for two years."

Troy smiled, bringing her hand to his lips and pressing a quick kiss to it before letting their hands fall between them again, watching a small smile creep onto her face, "And I've known you two days and we're here."

"Yep."

* * *

It was dark by the time Troy had even started walking Gabriella back to her house, numbers had been exchanged a few hours prior. It was around eleven when the two reached her door.

"So it's the awkward moment now huh?" Gabriella laughed.

Troy shook his head, "Nah. We haven't had an awkward moment yet really."

"Maybe that's true."

"I had a good today. I was worried at first, then happy that I was spending the day with you and now I'm completely buzzing."

"Ah, that could be due to the couple of beers at that little outside bar." Gabriella laughed, slipping her arms around his waist, surprising him because all day this had been the first time she had shown some affection first without him doing anything.

"I'm sober, thank you very much." Troy answered, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Gabriella closed her eyes and let her forehead resting against his chest, yawning, "I think I better let you get inside."

The Latina nodded through another yawn, "Thank you for today. It was lovely."

Troy grinned, cupping the back of her neck, "I'm glad. I had an amazing day. I'll give you a call soon, okay?"

"Tomorrow. Call me tomorrow. My friend's performing at this little bar in town. You can come if you like, bring Chad or someone." Gabriella shrugged.

The bulky man nodded, "I'd love to. I'll call you tomorrow then."

Gabriella nodded, simply.

Troy looked like he was in deep thought before he softly pressing his lips to her forehead, "Goodnight, princess."

Gabriella smiled, hugging him and his warmth for an extra minute, "Night." She pulled back from him and went straight inside with a smile. Troy watched her door shut and he stood for a few more seconds with a smile on his face before shaking his head and starting his ten minute walk home.

* * *

"Mom, dad. I'm home!" Troy shouted just before he yawned and after he stepped inside the house.

"How was your day, sweetie?" His mother shouted from inside the family room which Troy entered after he flicked his converse off and walked inside to see his mom and dad sitting down, cuddled up on the couch.

"Really good. Where's Dyl?" Troy asked, flopping down on the arm chair.

"Outside. His friend came over a couple of hours ago." Jack Bolton answered, his arm wrapped around his wife's shoulders.

Troy wasn't the least bit disgusted in his parents affection to each other. He knew they loved each other very much and he had grown up with them kissing around the house and cuddled up at night on the couch.

"Oh right." Troy yawned.

"Tell us more about your day then." Lucille asked, grinning like the cat who got all the cheese.

Troy pressed his lips together with a smile, "It was amazing. I really enjoyed it. We went to get a smoothie then just walked around for the rest of the day and just talked about anything and everything." He shrugged, "Really simple."

"Aw." Lucille cooed.

"Did you kiss her?" Jack asked, like the male he is.

"Yeah, do you?"

Troy looked at his parents like they had grown two heads, "You two sound like teenagers but no, I didn't kiss her."

"You didn't want too?" Lucille frowned.

Troy quickly shook his head, "I did, I just thought the second day we've known each other wasn't a good idea."

"You should of kissed her." Lucille sighed, shaking her head and Jack agreed.

Troy's jaw dropped, "You should be glad that I'm actually interested in a girl."

"Oh we are, honey!" Lucille exclaimed and Jack chuckled as did Troy.

The younger Bolton stood up and announced he was going to bed and with one final kiss to his mother's cheek he walked upstairs and collapsed onto his bed, awkwardly taking off his clothes until he lay on top of the covers with just his boxers on. He was asleep within seconds. He had no energy to think over his perfect day and just let himself soak in his feelings in his sleep not over analysing anything. Just letting things happen naturally. That was one thing that his relationship with Olivia wasn't. It wasn't natural.

**Sorry if there's any mistakes- I've been reading a book for English Lit and it's taking up a lot of my time so I haven't had time to proof read and sorry it's short. Sorry in general!**


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